


Instinct

by PerryJC



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Keith/Lance (Voltron) Angst, M/M, Oblivious Keith (Voltron), Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Sacrifice, klance, worried lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-11-02 19:36:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10951314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerryJC/pseuds/PerryJC
Summary: This is my first fic ever, so be gentle. Just getting the hang of things with some common tropes. Typical keith-sacrifices-self-for-lance-and-lance-is-worried fic. Nothing special. Hope you like it!





	Instinct

_What the hell and fuck._

Keith stared from across the room at his “rival,” who was currently engaged in a heated debate with Pidge about chupacabras. Lance waved his arms around wildly, describing the enormous size and terrifying features of the monster he claimed that he had seen as a child. Pidge, despite being an avid believer, doubted the validity of Lance’s tale. Either that or they were just trying to get him riled up. Keith couldn’t tell.

He also couldn’t figure out why he was having trouble tearing his eyes away from Lance. Had his arms always looked that good? Maybe they had always been hidden by that stupid jacket he wore.

He’d called it stupid in front of Lance before, in response to which he received a gaping mouth and affronted spluttering. “ _My_ jacket is stupid??? Your jacket is _cropped_!”

Now, however, Lance wasn’t wearing a shirt at all. Somehow he had gotten caught up in this conversation with Pidge while walking from the locker room showers back to his room. And Keith, initially interested in the potential first-hand account of cryptid existence, found himself distracted by Lance’s _stupid_ arms.

This wasn’t the first time he had been distracted by Lance. Keith had found his eyes wandering over to where his rival sat at breakfast, for some reason enraptured by the way he ate the fruit they had collected on the planet they had visited last. The juice from the fruit had rolled down Lance’s chin, and Keith was surprised to find that it didn’t disgust him.

Quite the opposite, actually.

Then there was that time Lance had risen from the couch after the group had gathered to watch an Altean movie. Lance had stretched, and his shirt had risen to expose a bit of his stomach. Keith had found himself staring, and tore his eyes away in a frustrated huff. The sound had caught Lance’s attention, and he swiveled to look at Keith, something like concern flitting across his features. Keith’s breath caught in his throat and he hastily looked away, and after a moment Lance shrugged slightly and sauntered from the room.

It wasn’t only physical things about Lance that had been catching Keith’s attention lately. Keith had been noticing little things about Lance that had, admittedly, surprised him at first. The way that Lance absentmindedly draped a blanket over Pidge, who had fallen asleep slumped over their laptop for the third time that week, or the way that Lance refrained from taking the last of the alien fruit because he knew it was Hunk’s favorite. Lance had done these things without even thinking about them, putting others before himself in such a way that told Keith it was second nature. Something about that realization had sent a shiver of _something_ through Keith, twisting his heart in a not altogether unpleasant manner. If he was being honest with himself, he knew what the feeling was.

But he wasn’t.

So he sat here, listening to Lance and Pidge and trying desperately to clamp down on these _feelings_ that threatened to spill into the forefront of his mind. He was snapped out of his reverie by the sound of his name.

“Keith?”

He looked up at the source of his misery.

“ _What_.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Never mind, guess you’re fine. Anyway….” He turned back to Pidge.

Keith froze in surprise. _Had he been worried about me?_ His heart fluttered. _Jesus, Kogane, get it together._

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of alarms and the flashing red lights of the castle’s alert system.

_“Paladins to your hangars! We have a Galra fleet approaching!”_

Keith sighed in relief, saved from his spiral for a moment until he saw Lance twist around and hold out a hand to help Keith up off the couch. Keith paused in shock for a moment before grasping the offered hand, letting Lance pull him to his feet. Lance met his eyes and smirked.

“Let’s go kick some Galra butt, Mullet.”

Keith smiled. “Yeah,” he smirked back. “Let’s.”

 

The battle was harder than he had anticipated when he first saw what they were up against. The fleet was small, but they were obviously well-trained. All five of the Paladins were exhausted, and they had only taken out about half of the ships.

Worse still, there was a civilian planet below them that was in danger from the battle. The Galra had begun targeting the planet as a tactic to distract the paladins and split them up. Even though Shiro didn’t want to let their plan work, he knew that they had to protect the people. Keith, Lance and Shiro had stayed to fight while Hunk and Pidge had been sent down to the planet’s surface to protect the inhabitants.

“Lance! Watch your back!”

“I got it, Shiro!” Lance shouted back as he pulled his Lion up sharply and shot at the ships behind him using Blue’s tail. From that position, though, Lance couldn’t see the fleet’s main ship aiming its ion cannon his way.

But Keith could.

He didn’t even think about it, suddenly understanding the reason that Lance was the way he was, the reason he acted the way he did toward Pidge and Hunk, even when they weren’t looking.

Instinct.

And Keith’s instincts screamed at him, from every direction: _Lance._

Behind the strength and volume of that one thought, he heard another scream that sounded like his name as the beam that was meant for Lance hit him instead.

Keith’s world was all fire and pain and noise after that, until it wasn’t anymore.

“….eith! KEITH!”

He felt someone shaking him, and tried to open his eyes.

“Keith, come on, buddy. Keith! Wake up, godammit.”

Keith’s eyes barely cracked open enough to see a flash of blue, and suddenly he remembered. His eyes opened the rest of the way to look up at Lance’s face, which was twisted in panic and fear that mixed with a tinge of relief when he saw Keith was awake.

“Oh shit. Thank god.” Lance’s face was wet. Had he been crying?

Keith opened his mouth to ask if Lance was okay, but was suddenly hit with blinding pain. His eyes widened and he gasped, sending him into a coughing fit that removed all traces of relief from Lance’s face. Keith could see Lance’s mouth moving, forming his name, but he couldn’t hear him over the painful coughs wracking his body. His vision swam and blackness crept in, but receded when he felt a firm slap on his cheek.

“Keith! Don’t fall asleep.” Lance shook him again.

Weakly, Keith attempted to ask his question again. “Are you okay?” he asked, coming out a whisper.

Lance’s eyes widened, and he stared down at Keith incredulously. “Am…am I…? You know what, no, I’m not. Because what the actual fuck, Keith? You…” he shook his head and bit his lip, which was trembling with emotion. “You hotheaded…” he stopped again. He looked at Keith, exasperated but fond.

Keith stared back at him, confused.

Lance rolled his eyes. “Just don’t die, Mullet. Don’t…” he closed his eyes.

Suddenly Keith understood. Lance was worried about him. He reached out and touched Lance’s face. Lance’s eyes opened in surprise. Keith started to tell him that he would be fine, but found that he was too tired. His arm dropped from Lance’s face, and Lance looked down at him in alarm.

“No no no no, hey! I said don’t fall asleep you idiot!” Keith felt a light slap again. He looked up at Lance, and, not wanting to disappoint him, nodded wearily. Lance looked momentarily satisfied, and breathed out a frustrated sigh.

“Okay,” Lance said. “I’m gonna have to pick you up to take you to Blue and get you to a healing pod.” He hooked his arms underneath Keith’s knees and his back, looking down at him again before he grunted out “this might hurt” and lifted Keith from the ground.

Keith screamed, suddenly feeling the broken leg he had been too shocked to notice. Lance winced at the pain in his voice, but continued to run toward Blue with Keith in his arms, being careful not to jostle him.

Keith could feel himself slipping.

“Lance,” he tried to get the brunette’s attention, but he was too focused on getting Keith back to Blue. Keith tried again, this time loud enough that Lance looked down at him without slowing his pace. He seemed to notice that Keith was drifting off, because he broke into a run.

“Mullet, stay awake.”

“…can’t…”

“Yes, you can. Just stay awake.” Lance whispered. “Please.”

“…ove…” Keith whispered, and Lance abruptly stopped, looking down at Keith with wide eyes.

“What?” Lance’s whisper sounded broken, and it tore Keith in two. He knew it was cruel, but he couldn’t stop himself. His instincts took over here, too.

“..love you…”

Lance’s eyes grew impossibly wider, and the last thing he heard before the darkness swallowed him was Lance calling his name.

 

The next thing he felt was cold, followed closely by warm limbs wrapping themselves around him and a warm face buried in his neck.

“You _prick_ ,” Lance sobbed.

Keith was shocked, but rubbed his hands awkwardly across Lance’s back and held him as he cried. He had seen someone do it in a movie once, he thought.

“Um…” he started, confused. “Sorry?”

Lance pulled back and looked at him, eyes squinted and angry. “You. Almost. Died!” He whisper-yelled, punctuating each word with a jab to Keith’s chest. The memory of what had happened hit Keith, and he stared back at Lance with a determined glare.

“I know,” he said with a surety he felt in his bones. He squared his shoulders. “And I would do it again.”

Lance stopped, and his mouth fell open.

Keith met his gaze evenly.

Lance’s mouth snapped shut, and he looked angry again. “Why,” he hissed.

It was Keith’s turn to look surprised. “Why what?”

Lance rolled his eyes, throwing up his hands. “Why would you do that? Risk yourself for me? Die…” he choked back a sob. “Die… _for me_?”

Keith’s glare softened, and he thought he understood why Lance did the things he did a bit more. He was kind, yes, and cared for others. But Keith knew more than that: he heard the truth underlying Lance’s particular brand of self-deprecating humor. Lance didn’t think he mattered. Lance didn’t think he was _worth it._ And Keith’s glare was back, because that was _such bullshit._

“Because, Lance,” he hissed in return, and realized too late that Lance had never been the recipient of Keith’s true anger before as the brunette’s eyes widened and he took a step back. Keith almost regretted it but he needed Lance to _know_. To _understand_.

“Because, Lance. You are phenomenal. You hold this team together. You hold me together.” Keith stopped and took a breath, looking at the ground. “I told you, I meant what I said back there. I know it was a dick move, telling you as I was dying, but to be fair I only realized it recently myself.”

Keith looked back up and into Lance’s eyes.

“I love you.”

Lance stared, mouth hanging open again. One tick passed, then two, then three. Keith shifted awkwardly on his feet, and looked away, hand coming up to meet the back of his own neck like it always did when he was nervous.

“If you don’t…I mean, it’s okay. I don’t expect anything, I just…that’s why. And I wanted you to know that you’re worth it, Lance.” He looked up at the still-gaping blue paladin again. “You’re worth it.”

Keith turned to leave, mind already on the myriad of ways he could spend the remainder of his life in his room curled up dying on his bed, but felt a grip on his arm. He looked down at the tan hand curled around his bicep, and up into Lance’s eyes. He was smiling now.

“Jesus Christ, you drama queen. What is this, a fucking fanfic? You have to sacrifice yourself to save me and then, dying, admit your love?” Lance laughed loud and full, bent over and clutching his waist. He looked up at Keith and smiled bright. “You’re a walking trope. Fuck.”

“I don’t know what any of that means,” Keith said blankly, looking down at Lance’s shaking form. Lance straightened and grabbed Keith’s wrist, pulling him close before he placed his hands on the shorter boy’s upper arms. Keith looked up at him, heart swelling and beating fast, too fast.

Lance opened his eyes and looked down at Keith, winking, and then leaning down to kiss the boy who had saved his life in more ways than one, on more than one occasion.

They broke apart, panting, foreheads touching.

“You’re right, by the way.” Keith pulled back and looked up at Lance seriously, before a smirk ghosted across his lips. “Chupacabras are totally a thing.”

Lance beamed, and Keith thought about the teachers at the Garrison who had told him he couldn’t get by on instinct alone.

_Fuck them_ , he thought, and stretched on his toes to reach Lance’s lips again. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This is my first fanfic, so be gentle. Just giving it the old college try. ;) Poetry is more my thing, so if you're into that check me out at my tumblr secretbeekeeper (The Line of Fire) or if you're a *struggling* grad student looking for A+ reblogs plus one Klance gifset I made you can check out my other tumblr phdpodge (Podge gets a PhD).


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